As of late September, Facebook has started hiding the number of ‘likes, reactions and views’ on some posts, starting with Australia. The trial is rolled out to dissuade users from excessively comparing themselves with others, exercising self-censorship, and in the worst case scenario for FB – deleting posts that are not getting enough ‘likes’ and stop posting altogether.
What This Means for Brands:
Similar to our advice for Instagram, it’s high time to shift your social media focus from vanity metrics (post likes, followers) to meaningful engagements (comments, saves, shares). Brands and agencies should also work together to develop conversion metrics for e.g. monitoring actual footfalls or measuring online or in-store sales driven by influencer posts.